TIME FOR THE BEACH

This is a photo of the large beach in Nice.  Notice that there is no sand.

After using a lot of energy canoeing down the Dordogne river,  Flat Hawkster needed to take a break and southern France was a great place to do it.  This area is well known for its large beaches and thousands of sun worshippers.  He was surprised to find out that the beaches had smooth rocks rather than sand.  It actually turned out to be more comfortable, with an easier clean up when it was time to go.   Unfortunately, he was less comfortable with the number of speedos being worn all around him.

Southern France is also known for its expensive lifestyle.   Fortunately, Flat Hawkster found a cheap nest to stay for a few days in the middle of Old Nice.  This area has open markets every day and plenty of restaurants, although they all seemed to offer a very similar menu.  Did you know that in France,  most people take the month of August off and head south to the beaches?  This means that places like Nice are extremely busy and filled with people.

Flat Hawkster spent a lot of time walking through these shopping lanes in Old Nice.

This is where the President of France stays when visiting Nice.

MONACO

Flat Hawkster has always wondered what Monaco is.  Is it a country, a state, a province?  Well he found out that Monaco is a Principality ruled by the Grimaldi family for over 500 years.   Prince Albert is the current ruler of Monaco and he lives in a palace perched high on a cliff that looks down onto Monaco’s only city,  Monte Carlo.   This principality is only the size of 1 square kilometer and it is surrounded by France.  (Try to imagine a large square in Ladner that has Hawthorne and Neilson Grove on two of its corners.)  It is not a very big area and only 35,000 people live there.  It also hosts some of the wealthiest people in the world with an average salary of $185,000.   Wow.  With that kind of money, Flat Hawkster was wondering what they serve during “hot lunch days” in Monaco’s elementary schools.  Filet mignon, scargots and caviar? :)

This is the view of Monaco's harbour from the palace.

This the the Palace that houses Prince Albert,  the ruler of Monaco.

Changing of the guards and the palace.

Monaco is famous for hosting the Monte Carlo Grand Prix which races
cars through the streets and tight turns of Monaco.

True or false: Monaco has the oldest life expectancy of people in the entire world?  The statement is true…people in Monaco can live to an average of 90 years of age. 

CINQUE TERRE,  ITALY

After relaxing on the beaches for a few days,  Flat Hawkster took a long train ride to an area in Italy called Cinque Terre (Five Lands).   This area has five villages surrounded by cliffs that are connected by bus, rail and hiking trail.   He decided to hike to two of the towns on his first day and ended up wondering if he should have just flown.  It was a lot of work in the heat with steep climbs, narrow paths and uneven ground.   The hike lasted over 6 hours…one way!   The next day he hiked for 3 more hours but was able to take a break on a nice beach in a town called Monterrosso.  The views were incredible along the trails and the hiking was worth the effort.  He also met a lot of Canadians and shared some laughs with them.

Vernazza suffered through a devastating flood last October.
It wiped out all of the businesses in the small town but
they have been able to rebuild in just a short period of time.

Here is a house that is barely hanging on after its foundation was washed
away during the flood in Vernazza on Oct. 25, 2011.

The view of Carniglia from the hiking trail.

The view of Manarola from the hiking trail.

The beach of Monterosso where Flat Hawster worked on his tan:)

BONJOUR FRANCE

This is a picture outside of the Louvre in Paris.  The Louvre is a famous Art museum that displays one of the most impressive collections in the world.  It is a very busy tourist attraction but Flat Hawkster was able to get in early before all the crowds arrived.   He visited on Bastille Day, which is France's National Day and it is celebrated on July 14th each year. This is the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille by those in search of a  modern and democratic nation.  

This is a picture of Flat Hawkster with the Mona Lisa,  the most famous painting in the world.   Hawkster had to work hard to get close enough to take a picture because there was a huge crowd.  Fortunately he did not have to use his talons:)   This portrait was created by Leonardo Da Vinci and her smile has captured the imagination of the world (sort of like Hawkster's:) There is a lot of mystery surrounding this painting as no one seems to know who this lady was.  Some people have even suggested that Da Vinci  used a mirror to create a self-portrait of himself as a woman

Check out this brief time-lapse video of the Louvre at dusk.

Here's Flat Hawkster at the base of the Eiffel Tower.  This is huge structure that has become a world landmark.   This was named after the engineer, Gustave Eiffel and it was built in 1889 for Paris' World Fair.  It stands over 300 meters high and Flat Hawkster decided to save some money and take the stairs up.  It was a lot of work but you can see in the pictures below that it was worth it.   Did you know that the Eiffel Tower is ranked the number one tourist attraction to visit in Europe?  Which monument do you think is second?  See answer below.

This view shows the huge Champs Des Mars park.

In this view you can see the River Sienne which has been the lifeblood of Paris for centuries.

This is Flat Hawkster just about to board a subway train in Paris.   His constant smile was tested a little on these trains as they can get very crowded and hot.  The smells were not always pleasing...even for a hawk:).   Sometimes there was live music and that made the trips  much more enjoyable.  People in Paris use trains regularly at all times of the day and it is an environmentally friendly way to move a large number of people around.  The first subway line opened on July 19th, 1900 and there are now over 245 stations.   

Here you can see Flat Hawkster in the town of Brive-De Guillard that is located within the Dordogne River Valley.   He was just about to enjoy a 4 course meal that featured duck, duck and more duck.  He even had a duck milkshake...just kidding:) 

This video features a canoe trip down the Dordogne River in central France.  Flat Hawkster was able to visit caves and see castles along the way.  You can't see him in this clip but you can hear him mooing to keep those ferocious cows away:-)

THE SECOND MOST POPULAR TOURIST ATTRACTION IN EUROPE IS:      The Acropolis in Athens, Greece 

The Adventure Begins in London

Flat Hawkster's European Adventure is now a week old.  His time so far has been filled with plenty of interesting sights and experiences.  This weekly blog will be documenting Flat Hawkster's   months of travelling and share some facts that are gathered along the way.   We hope you enjoy following along and feel free to share your comments, questions or suggestions.  Go Hawks!

You might be surprised to hear that Flat Hawster was a little nervous about his flight on the plane.
I think he prefers to be in charge of the flying.  We are just about to fly over
Hawthorne.  We actually saw some playground balls on the roof.  We will
leave that with you Mr. Bourgeois.

Flat Hawkster snuck into a First Class seat for a moment when I wasn't
looking. He was quickly removed by a flight attendant

This was Hawkster's actual seat.

There are so many sights to see in London as it is a city rich in history.
All of the National Museums are free in London and Flat Hawkster
was very happy to find this out.  This museum features artifacts
that are thousands of years old from a variety of Ancient
civilizations: Roman, Greek, Egyptian.

This is one of the Queen's Guards who is stationed to protect the  Queen.
They are famous for remaining motionless for long stretches of time.
Flat Hawkster did his best to distract this guard with some
"knock, knock jokes"  but no luck:)

This famous Palace is the best known home for the British Royal family.
What is it called?  Answer at the bottom of this page.

This is the "London Eye" which is billed as the largest Ferris Wheel
in the World.  Large groups of people can fit into each capsule to slowly
rotate toward outstanding views.  Flat Hawkster's fear of heights and
his reluctance to spend too much money on tourist attractions,  kept us on the ground.

This is the Tower Bridge that took 8 years to build in the late 1800's.
The Towers were built to create overhead walkways at the top that could be used
when the bridge went up to allow large ships to go through.  They ended up
closing the walkways in 1910  as people did not want to climb all the way
up the tower and preferred to wait for a ship to pass and the bridge to lower.
Notice the Olympic rings that have been attached in advance of of the upcoming summer games.

THE ANSWER IS:  BUCKINGHAM PALACE